7/16/2019 Curious History of the Six-Pointed Star (Gerschom Scholem) http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/curious-history-of-the-six-pointed-star-gerschom-scholem 1/9 THE CURIOUS HISTORY OF THE SIX-POINTED STAR How the "Magen David" Became the Jewish Symbol GERSHOM SCHOLEM rT HE six-pointed star known as the Magen David or Shield of David, which is now emblazoned on the flag of the State of Israel, is from every point of view a cause for astonishment. Where did the symbol originate, and what is its true meaning? In the scholarly literature, as well as the popular, truth and fantasy are mingled. Writers on the subject confuse the authentic tradition of the symbol, which they do not understand very well, with their ow n specu- lations, some of which are very far-fetched indeed: in sum, each man interprets the Magen David as he pleases. One commentator says: this is the symbol of Judaism, of the religious and intellectual universe of monotheism. Another says: it is the pure symbol of the Jewish national community. Some say: it is the symbol of the wars of the Kings of the House of David, while still others say: it is the symbol of THEm six-pointed Shield of David, now inscribed on the flag of Israel, is universally accepted as the Jewish symbol par excellence; and it is commonly assumed that the Magen David's special significance reaches back to remote an- tiquity, and enshrines some deep, traditionally hallowed, religious or historical meaning. GER- SHOM SCHOLEM, one of the great Jewish scholars of our time, here traces the obscure story of the Magen David through its long and curious career, and reveals that the true story of the symbol is quite different from that as- serted by most accepted "authorities." Professor Scholem was born in Germany in 897 and studied at the universities of Berlin, Jena, Bern, and Munich. He left Germany for Palestine in 1923, and in 927 became Professor of Jewish Mysticism at the Hebrew University. He recently completed a lecture tour in this country. His book Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism, which was published by Schocken Books in 941, is considered a classic in its field. This article was translated from the He- brew by Milton Himmelfarb. eternal harmony and peace, the unification of opposites and their subordination to the principle of unity. What is common to all these interpretations is that their daring is matched only by their ineptness. The Shield of David is indeed a wondrous symbol, stimulating the intellect and arous- ing the passion for speculation. And whose heart is not stirred to illuminate the dark depths, each man according to the latest en- cyclopedia at his disposal? Blessed be He Who succors the poor, Who has shown us wonders by His grace, and has not locked the gates of pious homiletics. HAT is the true history of this Shield of David in the Jewish tradition? Does it have its roots in the Jewish tradi- tion at all? Has it always been accepted among wide or narrow circles as the symbol of Judaism, or at least as a specifically Jewish symbol? And if not, when did it begin to serve this function, and through what causes? In trying to answer these questions, a distinc- tion must be made between the appearance of the emblem itself-the two crossed tri- angles in the shape of a six-pointed star- and the history of the name, "Shield of David," by which it is now known; for the name and the symbol were not originally linked together. Actually the six-pointed star is not a Jew- ish symbol; a fortiori it could not be "the symbol of Judaism." It has none of the cri- teria that mark the nature and development of the true symbol. It does not express any "idea," it does not arouse ancient associations rooted in our experiences, and it is not a shorthand representation of an entire spirit- ua l reality, understood immediately by the observer. It does not remind us of anything in Biblical or in rabbinic Judaism. Indeed, 243
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7/16/2019 Curious History of the Six-Pointed Star (Gerschom Scholem)
rT HE six-pointed star known as theMagen David or Shield of David,which is now emblazoned on the flag
of the State of Israel, is from every point ofview a cause for astonishment. Where did
the symbol originate, and what is its true
meaning? In the scholarly literature, as well
as the popular, truth and fantasy are mingled.
Writers on the subject confuse the authentic
tradition of the symbol, which they do not
understand very well, with their ow n specu-
lations, some of which are very far-fetchedindeed: in sum, each man interprets the
Magen David as he pleases.
One commentator says: this is the symbol
of Judaism, of the religious and intellectualuniverse of monotheism. Another says: it
is the pure symbol of the Jewish national
community. Some say: it is the symbol ofthe wars of the Kings of the House of David,while still others say: it is the symbol of
THEm six-pointed Shield of David, now inscribedon the flag of Israel, is universally accepted asthe Jewish symbol par excellence; and it iscommonly assumed that the Magen David'sspecial significance reaches back to remote an-tiquity, and enshrines some deep, traditionallyhallowed, religious or historical meaning. GER-
SHOM SCHOLEM, one of the great Jewishscholars of our time, here traces the obscurestory of the Magen David through its long andcurious career, and reveals that the true storyof the symbol is quite different from that as-serted by most accepted "authorities." ProfessorScholem was born in Germany in 897 andstudied at the universities of Berlin, Jena, Bern,and Munich. He left Germany for Palestinein 1923, and in 927 became Professor ofJewish Mysticism at the Hebrew University.He recently completed a lecture tour in thiscountry. His book Major Trends in JewishMysticism, which was published by SchockenBooks in 941, is considered a classic in itsfield. This article was translated from the He-brew by Milton Himmelfarb.
eternal harmony and peace, the unificationof opposites and their subordination to the
principle of unity. What is common to all
these interpretations is that their daring is
matched only by their ineptness.The Shield of David is indeed a wondrous
symbol, stimulating the intellect and arous-ing the passion for
speculation. And whoseheart is not stirred to illuminate the dark
depths, each man according to the latest en-cyclopedia at his disposal? Blessed be He
Who succors the poor, Who has shown us
wonders by His grace, and has not locked thegates of pious homiletics.
HAT is the true history of this Shield of
David in the Jewish tradition?
Does it have its roots in the Jewish tradi-tion at all? Has it always been accepted
among wide or narrow circles as the symbol
of Judaism, or at least as a specifically Jewishsymbol? And if not, when did it begin toserve this function, and through what causes?
In trying to answer these questions, a distinc-
tion must be made between the appearance
of the emblem itself-the two crossed tri-
angles in the shape of a six-pointed star-
and the history of the name, "Shield of
David," by which it is now known; for thename and the symbol were not originally
linked together.
Actually the six-pointed star is not a Jew-ish symbol; a fortiori it could not be "the
symbol of Judaism." It has none of the cri-
teria that mark the nature and developmentof the true symbol. It does not express any"idea," it does not arouse ancient associationsrooted in our experiences, and it is not a
shorthand representation of an entire spirit-ua l reality, understood immediately by theobserver. It does not remind us of anything
in Biblical or in rabbinic Judaism. Indeed,243
7/16/2019 Curious History of the Six-Pointed Star (Gerschom Scholem)
cover that the idea that Luria gave the stimu-lus for the diffusion of the Shield of David
as the symbol of Judaism is a figment of the
imagination.
T MAY be asked: How did it happen thatthese scholars confused their own inter-
pretations with those of Luria? The answer
is clear, simple, and slightly comical.
These scholars write that Luria, in his
Tree of Life, rules that at the Passover Sederwe must arrange the plate in such a fashion
that its various components should form a
six-pointed star: one triangle being composedof the shankbone (zro'a), egg, and bitterherb, and the other of the horseradish, pars-
ley, and harosset. The fact of the matter isthat the Lurianic writings say something en-
tirely different about the arrangement of theSeder plate, and there is not the slightestreference to the Shield of David: "And asfor the priest, thou shalt put to thy right thezro'a, representing the Emanation of Grace;
and opposite it, to the left, the egg, represent-ing Might; and between and under them thebitter herb, representing Glory. And theharosset shall be put beneath the zro'a, rep-
resenting Everlastingness; and opposite it,under the egg, the parsley, representing Maj-esty; and the horseradish, which is later eaten
between two matzot, under the bitter herb,representing Foundation." We see, therefore,
that these six elements of the Seder are to
be arranged on the plate to represent the six
Cabalistic Emanations, in the form of two
triangles, one under the other, and notcrossed over each other; this arrangementdoes not even suggest the Shield of David.
But in the g9 th century, when the six-
pointed star began to be widely represented
on nearly every religious object, "artistic"
seder plates began to be made according to
the modern taste, and the arrangement setdown by Luria (and mentioned also in any
number of Haggadas) was arbitrarily con-verted to the form of a six-pointed star. Onolder seder plates, especially those datingfrom the 8th century, there are entirely dif-ferent decorative elements (the twelve signs
of the Zodiac, the twelve tribes, etc.). The
confused historians of the Shield of David
associated the Lurianic teachings with themodem seder-plate design that began to be so
popular in the 9 th century; they concludedwithout further inquiry that both the ar-rangement and the form of the sign itselfwere to be attributed to the Lurianic Cabala.
Some modem scholars have even used the
writings of 8th-century Christian alchemistsand occultists to "reveal" the Shield of Davidas a symbol of harmony and peace. But
there is absolutely no relation, in this matter,between these sources and the Cabalists, or
any other Jewish religious group. The Shieldof David has neither a Jewish religious "gen-ealogy" nor a Jewish religious significance,
either exoterically or esoterically; and it cer-
tainly had no place in the mystical world of
the devout men of Israel.
HE true history of the six-pointed star and
its ascent to the rank of a symbol in Israel
is bound up with what is called Practical
Cabala, which is nothing more than Jewishmagic, whose links with the theoretical doc-trines of the Cabalists were always weak.Particularly, it is bound up with the use of
amulets and talismans.
In this area a strong reciprocal influence
was at work between the Jews and Gentiles,
for nothing is more international than magic.Magic signs and designs pass from one peo-
ple to another, just as "sacred" (i.e., incom-
prehensible)combinations of "names" wan-der back and forth, and frequently become
corrupted in their wanderings. In general,
magic signs like these were called "seals" in
our literature, not only because they were fre-
quently engraved on rings-the production
of magical rings of this kind was a well de-
fined trade, and we have textbooks in thisscience-but also because of the common at-titude that a man "seals himself" with thesesigns and protects himself against the assaults
of evil spirits.Two designs, both endowed with magical
meaning and power, are frequently inter-changed in the literature on talismans: thesix-pointed star and the five-pointed star. In
245
7/16/2019 Curious History of the Six-Pointed Star (Gerschom Scholem)
tury, and helped it to become widely usedon ceremonial objects as well. It was fromthe enlightened West that the symbol of
Jewishness passed to Poland and Russia.
The use of amulets was still very wide-spread, especially in the East, and the devoutdid not trouble themselves with complexthoughts; the mimicry of Christianity inher-ent in the choice of the symbol was confusedwith its talismanic and magical properties, towhich they had become accustomed-espe-cially the simple folk-from countless am-ulets. Thenceforth the Shield of David be-
gan to be introduced everywhere-on the
walls, on the windows and roofs of syna-gogues, on tombstones and medals-as thoughit were from Sinai. In their pursuit of a use-ful symbol and in their impulse toward mim-icry, it did not occur to the builders of thenew synagogues that intrinsically the symboldid not stand for anything, or for very little,of the world of Judaism, and consequentlythat it did not have the deep roots, drenchedin meaning, of the cross in the religious
world of Christianity. As late as 854, G.Wolf wrote in Vienna that he was very wellacquainted with the spirit of the Jews of
Moravia, and that the whole of the piousJew's belief in the Shield of David was thatit would protect him against any malevolentassault by his enemies; he did not say thatit had a value as a symbol of that pious Jew'sJudaism, in the sense that the cross had re-ligious meaning for the Christian.
The upshot of the matter is this: in thevery days of its greatest popularity the Shieldof David was a meaningless symbol of Juda-ism; and the Judaism of those days, in turn,tended to be meaningless. It required morethan preachers' sermons, however admirablein intent, to breathe life into a symbol. Thesuccessful and empty career of the Shield of
David during the x9th century is in some
measure a token of the Jewish decadence of
that century.Then the Zionists came, seeking to restore
the ancient glories-or more correctly, tochange the face of their people. When theychose it as a symbol for Zionism at the Basle
Congress of I897, the Shield of David waspossessed of two virtues that met the require-ments of men in quest of a symbol: on theone hand, its wide diffusion during the pre-vious century-its appearance on every newsynagogue, on the stationery of many chari-table organizations, etc.-had made it known
to everybody; and on the other, it was notexplicitly identified with a religious associa-
tion in the consciousness of their contempo-raries. This lack became its virtue. Thesymbol did not arouse memories of the past:it could be filled with hope for the future.
But even Zionism did not do so much toconfer the sacredness of a true symbol on theShield of David as did that mad dictatorwho made of it a badge of shame for millions
of our people, who compelled them to wearit publicly on their clothing as the badge of
exclusion and of eventual extermination.
Under this sign they moved along the roadof horror and degradation, struggle and hero-ism. If there be such a thing as a soil thatgrows meaning for symbols, this is it. Somehave said: the sign under which they wentto destruction and to the gas chambers de-serves to be discarded for a sign that willsignify life. But
itis
also possible to think inthe opposite fashion: the sign that in ourdays was sanctified by suffering and torturehas won its right to be the sign that will lightup the road of construction and life. "Thegoing down is the prelude to the raising up";where it was humbled, there will you find itexalted.